Clemson notebook: Career day for Tigers' Humphries

Local product Adam Humphries hauls in five catches for a career-high 67 yards on Saturday against Wake Forest in Clemson.

By ERIC BOYNTONeric.boynton@shj.com

CLEMSON — Clemson receiver Adam Humphries had been the subject of heavy praise from Dabo Swinney prior to the North Carolina State game with the head coach saying he felt the Dorman product had an NFL career ahead of him.With former high school teammate Charone Peake out for the season with a torn ACL, Humphries has stepped into the starting role, but went without a catch during last week's game at the Wolfpack.He was much more highly visible in Saturday's 56-7 win over Wake Forest in making three of Clemson's first seven receptions and finishing with five for a career-high 67 yards.“It was awesome after not seeing any catches last week and then being able to come in and contribute,” Humphries said. “It was a good feeling to be back home in front of our crowd and to get the ball a few times.”Humphries said there wasn't necessarily urgency in trying to get him more involved early, but there were holes in Wake's scheme Clemson felt it could exploit.“It was more of what the defense gave us, a lot of those (shorter) hitch routes were open and we saw that watching film and game-planned for it.”

TOUCHDOWN DENIED: One of Clemson's biggest fan favorites is highly decorated Army veteran Daniel Rodriguez, the sophomore reserve receiver/return man, who draws huge applause whenever he gets into a game or makes a play.With the Tigers facing third-and-2 from Wake's 11, he converted the first down on a 7-yard shovel pass from backup quarterback Cole Stoudt. Clemson tried the same play to Rodriguez the next two snaps, but he ended up a yard shy of his first touchdown before C.J. Davidson ran it in.Davidson was one of seven Tigers to score, leaving quarterback Tajh Boyd in disbelief Rodriguez was unable to get the first of his career.“I told him he didn't want to score,” Boyd chided. “He couldn't have wanted to score. No, I'm very excited for him and he's a living legend right now and it continues. He's going to have a movie coming out sometime in the near future, I promise you. Somebody's got to throw him that first touchdown.”LIGHT'S COMING ON: True freshman tight end Jordan Leggett, who missed time in preseason camp with a knee injury, is just now getting back into the flow of the offense. He's shown impressive athletic skills, but has been criticized at times for a lack of focus. Leggett had a career day with three catches for 38 yards and his first collegiate touchdown.“He's a phenomenal athlete, but he can be lazy and this gives us the chance to coach him even harder than what we've been coaching him,” offensive coordinator Chad Morris said. “I can promise you he's grinning ear to ear right now and that's all right because we're going to keep coaching him hard and he's going to keep grinning.”PAW PRINTS: Clemson is now 61-17-1 all-time against Wake Forest, including the last five overall and seven consecutive at home. … The Tigers are 37-4-2 on Homecoming since 1971. … It's the second consecutive home game the Tigers have topped 500 yards (573) to improve their all-time record to 66-0-1 when reaching that mark. ... Clemson converted on all six of its red zone chances Saturday and now all 16 for the season. … The win was the largest margin of victory since beating South Carolina State 54-0 in 2008 and the largest in ACC competition since 1999 when the Tigers beat Duke 58-7. … D.J. Howard's 75-yard touchdown reception, the first of his career, was the longest reception by a running back since C.J. Spiller caught an 83-yard touchdown in 2008 against Duke.